I have been meaning to get this site “started”, but it has been a busy week … Spring cleaning, craft projects, garden work, and a multitude of other distractions.
So, for now, just a brief homeschooling history: My daughter, Estelle, is 13-years-old. I took her out of public school during the middle of her first grade year. It is the best decision that I ever made. Rob and I had talked about homeschooling when she was younger, but when the time came to enroll her, we just went ahead and did it. Overall, we were very disappointed with that particular school district and we saw it hacking away at her individuality.
For the most part, I have taken an unschooling approach. Estelle loves books and is naturally curious. She read my encyclopedia set when she was six and seven. She has been using the computer since she was three. Letting her lead herself during the “elementary years” was a good decision. She is now in eighth grade and, this last fall, I ordered curriculum from Oak Meadow. I have been pretty happy with it. That said, we don’t do everything by the book. We supplement a lot of material and we also skip some of the assignments … particularly those that seem to drone on and take the fun out of learning. Civics has been one subject, in particular, where we often discuss topics and/or further research them rather than having her write several essays each week.
Next year, she will be in “high school” and I am still exploring the options. Oak Meadow has a nice program that would supply her with transcriptions for college applications, but I need to do some research to see what else is out there. I feel like it is a very big and very important decision